It would be nice if cyber security is managed by a bunch of 14-year-olds who wear Star Wars T-shirts. However, the reality is that there are big govern­ment bodies that do that in Malaysia.

One of the head honchos is Lt Col Husin Jazri (ret) who is CyberSecurity Malay­sia’s (CSM) chief executive officer.

Now, CSM is Ministry of Science, Tech­nology and Innovation’s (MOSTI) agency in charge of Malaysia’s cyber security.

The well-dressed man was available for a quick interview at the Press confer­ence for CyberSecurity Malaysia Awards, Conference and Exhibition 2010 (CSM-ACE 2010) recently.

“We have been doing this event – which is the largest ICTsecurity event in Malaysia every year, actually, since 2006 – under different names,” said Husin. “It’s just that starting last year, we’ve decided to lock onto a fixed name and build the brand from there.”

The event is now on until Oct 29 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

Themed ‘Securing Our Digital City’, CSM-ACE 2010 brings together the most influential and innovative minds in business, government and academia; including key information security in­dustry players to exchange policies, ideas and technology.

There is a reason why CSM goes through all this trouble.

“Cyber security is vital for national security as well as creating a platform and infrastructure for a fast-growing industry.”

Apparently, according to the Colonel, Malaysia suffered severe worm attacks in 2002. Networks experienced slower speeds and some ATMs were rendered inoperable.

“Over the years, the number of threats has increased, with new forms of cybercrimes such as identity theft. The fact that these crimes are not prevalent and not yet widespread in Malaysia may be simply because the steps everyone has taken to secure In­ternet transactions here,” said Husin.

Another side of the Cyber Security is­sue are the economic advantages.

“The advan­tage of cyber security is that it promotes high-income growth indus­tries, creating high-level jobs in niche services.

“In the UK, they are investing £1 bil­lion (RM4.8 billion) in cyber security – and that’s just one country. As the world moves to a more computerised era, more and more areas, communities and nations, as well as more money, will be poured into cyber security,” he said.

In reality, there are bigger markets for ICTmanpower and cyber security development. India, for example, has many times the number of program­mers than in Malaysia. China is also flexing its muscle, not to mention other countries in the region. At first glance, Malaysia may seem at a disadvantage, but Husin does not believe so.

“Malaysia is very competitive. We can position the country as a hub, because we have so many Malaysians who can break into multiple markets like the Middle East, China, India and the rest of Asia,” he said. “There are Malaysians of Chinese, Indian and Arab descent. We can speak multiple languages and there is no reason for Malaysia not to be a cyber security hub for the South East Asian, or the Asia-Pacific region.”

Further according to him, invest­ments in Malaysia for cyber security can be done to create and promote product development, research and develop­ment, services, consultation and educa­tion. Of particular interest is developing a ‘standard system’ for applications, so that any application can be vetted prop­erly and sport trusted certification.

“Through linked parties, CSM is in­volved in certifying 30 apps while we have identified 90 more apps being de­veloped as we speak, catering to cyber security,” said Husin.

The CSM-ACE will reflect what he said.

The main conference, awards and ex­hibition will also incorporate 12 satellite events. CSM-ACE 2010’s main confer­ence will be held today and tomorrow. The conference is expected to draw over 1,000 participants both locally and internationally and bring together some of the most influential and inno­vative minds in business, government and academia; including key informa­tion security industry players to ex­change policies, ideas and technology expertise.

Conference speakers include Menteri Besar Perak, Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Ab­dul Kadir; Professor Abu Bakar Munir, professor of law, University of Malaya; Professor Benoit F. Morel of Carnegie Mellon University; Kenneth Geers or the Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence and Darin Anderson, chief operating officer, chairman Steering Committee ESET, LLCC(Securing Our eCity).

Meanwhile, the CSM-ACE 2010 ex­hibition on information security tech­nologies will run from today until Oct 28. The CSM-ACE 2010 exhibition will be open to the general public on Oct 27 and 28. Admission is free.

The by invitation-only welcome re­ception, gala dinner and Malaysia Cyber Security Awards 2010 will be held to­morrow. The awards recognise the best of the best in ITsecurity implementa­tion and best practices in the country. Check out the list of awards in the side­bar.

For more detail on each event and to register as a delegate, visit www.csm-ace.my.

List of awards being given out at the CSM-ACE during the gala night:

Supply (Industry) Category

Managed Security Service Provider of the Year

? Service provider based in Malaysia, that has demonstrated outstand­ing growth and performance in in­formation security services in 2009.

? Service provider that provides host­ed services, CPE-based services and assessment/consulting services.

Education and Training Provider of the Year

? Education and training provider that has shown exemplary growth and performance in 2009.

? The trainings include security archi­tecture advisory, security product training course, international stan­dards training (ISMS/DRP/BCP) and compliance and risk training.

Safety Outreach Provider of the Year

?Industry body that has shown ex­emplary commitment to the cause of Risk Management & Information Security, such as having played an effective role in improving the understanding and importance of information security amongst citizens and businesses, created best practice frameworks, organised semi­nars and participated in policy formu­lation that has furthered the cause of information security in Malaysia.

Innovative Company of the Year

? Malaysian company that has shown excellence in new products/services and technologies within the industry.

? The recipient company should have demonstrated innovation in its port­folio of existing and emerging prod­ucts and technologies.

Demand (Corporate/End-User) Category

Information Security Project of the Year

? Project successfully implemented in the year 2009 that involved risk management, data asset protection, regulatory compliance, privacy and network security performance.

Information Security Organization of the Year

? Organisation that has shown exem­plary Information Security Gover­nance framework and demonstrated the business value of investing in in­formation security in Malaysia

? Organisation that has effectively implemented and adhered to in­ternational standards and best practices, such as ISO27001 and ISMSguidelines.

Information Security Visionary of the Year – CXO, Academician or Student

This Award will have three sub-cate­gories:

CxO

? A CIO/CSO/Compliance officer or equivalent, who has been instru­mental in driving the information security vision of his company by aligning security strategy with business strategy.

Academician

? An academician who has been in­strumental in driving the informa­tion security vision of the nation.

Student

? A student of under-/post-grad or doctoral programme who has been instrumental in driving the information security vision in the nation.